So, you just got a gift card for your birthday, or you won one for Teen Summer Reading this year, and you need a new MP3 Player, or your laptop just passed on to the land of useless hunks of metal – just in time for back to school, of course.

With all of the 75 million options for brands/colors/capabilities/prices of electronics out there, how in the world does one ever make a decision on what’s the best for right here and right now?

Expert opinions, of course.

Expert opinions are critical for so many factors in our lives. Our days are so filled with decisions and choices, and we are, often times, very ill equipped to come to an all on our own final answer, so we turn to our resources for help: sources for your latest history paper on the social and political history of the circus, how taking four inches off your mop would (or wouldn’t) complement your face structure, or even what’s the best of the 278 chocolate cookie recipes on the internet.

So, when it comes time for me to buy a laptop, MP3 player, or cellphone, I ask the experts.

Cnet.com – Will give you product reviews for everything under the sun: from cameras, to phones, to the latest and greatest blu-ray players. Even have nifty little videos you could watch or listen to while purusing the other review options out there.

Newegg.com - These consumer user reviews are awesome, because they come from the typing fingers of people like you – only these people already own the technology in question, and aren’t afraid to tell you what they really think about it.

Then, of course, is the ever classic Consumer Reports. You can get this lovely buying guide at your local library, just put a reserve on it from the catalog, or ask a librarian to help you.